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Original Articles: General Thoracic

Invited Commentary

Surgical Clinic, Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Medical School of Pecs, Ifjusag u. 13, Pecs H-7632, Hungary

(Email: mft@iseb.pote.hu).

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

We are presented with an innovative technology for the treatment of the oldest known general thoracic surgical entity: thoracic empyema [1]. The inventor of the vacuum-assisted closure technique and the authors adjusting it to chest application deserve the merit for putting together a jigsaw puzzle. The known elements of basic and time-tested surgical rules of any empyema have now become systematically restructured. Although Celsus (2nd century, AC) adopted the rule of Hippocrates (ie, "ibi pus, ubi evacua," which means where you find pus, empty it), it was Herman Boerhave (1688–1738) of Leyden who laid down four basic principles of treatment. The success of the treatment depended on: (1) proper positioning of the patient (postural drainage), (2) suction through a drain, (3) local instillation, and . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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